The Bride of Valenstein
by cyberimp6
Summary: Extraordinary measures are needed to revive the race of Ancient Dragons. An early Halloween fic .


Disclaimer: Characters from "Slayers" are Copyright Hajime Kanzaka, Tommy Ohtsuka, and Rui Araizumi, except for Alcia, who is my own creation. This work is a parody and not to be used for any commercial purposes.

Forward: This story again owes a debt to AmberPalette, who has provided inspiration and permission to use some of her ideas. It takes place, some years later, after her "Pieces of His Shell", and in turn after my "The Green-Eyed Monster". The situation is that Xellos and Filia have formed a family, raising Val as their son. They have also produced a daughter, with the aid of magic. This story also borrows a key idea from AmberPalette's superbly written "Night Light": that Mazoku cannot speak the word "love" without harming themselves. Xellos therefore uses the word "oranges" as a code for "I love you" to Val.

**The Bride of Valenstein**

Lightning light up the night sky. But there were no windows in the large chamber, so the midnight display was only noticeable as a faint light from the old vents near the ceiling. The young man in the white lab coat glanced up from his labors on the complex and arcane-looking equipment.

"Now if the laboratory had been in a castle on a mountain-top, as it classically should have been," he remarked, "we'd be getting much more dramatic lighting. Why did Rezo have to build all of his research facilities underground?"

"But, master," replied the hunched figure in a lisp, "surely your genius shouldn't be distracted tonight?"

"Come on, Dad, knock off the hunchback act." The young man's voice had just a touch of exasperation. "And I'm not really a genius. I'd never have come anywhere near this without Rezo's notes and equipment."

The other man straightened, but instead of opening his closed eye, he shut both of them. "You're the one who's fond of the classic scenes, Val-kun." Xellos' voice lost the lisp and became his usual always-amused tone. "And both Filia and myself have our own opinions about your achievements." He nodded to the platform where a large protective metal cover concealed what Val had labored on so long.

"Well, anyway, it's time for the final connections." Val moved to one side of the cover. "Could you give me a hand on the other side?"

"Of course." Xellos moved to where he was facing Val across the platform. Each man took hold of the edge nearest him and lifted. A puff of mist came from underneath, and the next moment the sound of thunder outside could be heard as the form underneath was revealed.

It was a pale-colored dragon, not a full adult, but still nearly nine feet long. An observer would have concluded that it was dead, for the eyes were shut, and there was no sign of breath from the nostrils. And yet there was a suggestion of health in the sheen of the scales. The two men laid the cover on the tiled floor with a heavy ringing sound that told of considerable weight, yet neither had seemed to exert himself.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Val ran his eyes over the dragon with a barely-suppressed look of pride.

"Your mother is the only truly beautiful dragon in my eyes." Xellos' eyes were, in point of fact, still closed. "But I'll take your word for it."

There was a displacement of air in the far corner of the chamber. A black shape appeared, like an hourglass formed of floating ink. "Forbear, rash mortals!" came a voice from within the darkness. "I foresee turmoil and havoc if you continue the path you now tread."

"Oh, nice intonation." Xellos clapped his hands. "But, you know I'm not really a mortal, Alcia-chan."

"Hi, sis." Val sounded less impressed. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes." The black hourglass shimmered, and then transformed into a girl in her late teens with emerald-green hair. "An actress should keep herself in practice. And I still think the idea of assembling yourself a girlfriend on a lab table is . . . icky."

"If you know any eligible female Ancient Dragons," Xellos remarked, "by all means, have them get in touch with Val."

"For that matter," Val added, "if you know _any_ other Ancient Dragons, we'd like to hear about them."

"Okay, that's a point." Alcia turned towards the motionless form. "But are you sure this is an Ancient Dragon? Instead of dark, the color's almost white. And with those underdeveloped wings and legs, it looks more like a sea serpent."

"Yes, I'm sure, sis." Val began connecting tubes and wires to his creation. "I remember your first dragon form--it was pretty pale and undeveloped, too."

"Hey, you try being a Mazoku-Ryukozu hybrid." Alcia responded tartly. "It's not that easy focusing on one form and suppressing the other."

"I didn't say you did anything wrong." Val said gently. "Just that young dragons can be expected to look different. And by the way, you had a really cute snout."

Alcia's expression softened. But before she could reply, the door to the chamber opened. The woman who came in appeared to be in her twenties, classically beautiful with blue eyes and blonde hair. Although a casual observer might have guessed her not to be particularly strong, she carried a large mace easily in one hand.

Val looked up, and read the anxiety in the woman's face. "What's wrong, mom?"

"I'm afraid someone tipped off the local humans." Filia replied. "There's a mob headed this way."

"You don't say." Xellos looked more amused than ever. "Torches and pitchforks?" Filia nodded.

"Now that's really cliché." Alicia commented.

"Delays, delays," Val sighed, "nothing but delays."

"Well, I suppose we'd better dissuade them." Xellos said. "Val, it might be best if you stayed here to guard against any more subtle attempts. That way you can also lose as little time as possible."

"Good idea." Val nodded. Thanks, dad."

"I'm coming with you two." Alcia addressed Xellos and Filia.

"I thought you wanted to stop this." Val looked at his sister with a startled expression.

Alcia smiled. "I may not always agree with you, but that doesn't mean I'm about to let anyone else wreck my big brother's hard work." She turned back to Xellos. "And dad, I think I should do the talking at first. Your usual attitude is probably going to tick the humans off even more."

"And the problem with that is . . .?" Xellos inquired.

"You know perfectly well." Filia rolled her eyes. "We want to resolve this peacefully if possible. Nonetheless, Alicia-chan, don't forget to take your morning star."

"Of course I won't, mom." There was a shimmer of air, and Alicia disappeared.

Xellos waved to Val. "We'll be back soon. Oranges, Val." Then he and Filia disappeared as well.

- - - - - - - -

The land was rocky and almost barren, which was why there were few humans nearby, and in turn was why Rezo had built a lab there. The crowd of several dozen from the nearest village found themselves having to march nearly two miles through difficult terrain, and at night. As Filia had reported, they carried torches, but they needed to burn only a few at a time to make them last the distance. And so, it was a flash of lightning that revealed the figure with the dark cloak and hood ahead of them.

"Turn back, misguided men!" the figure declaimed loudly in a woman's voice. "Do not seek to interfere with what you understand not!"

The crowd came to a halt, but showed no sign of turning back. "Who are you?" shouted the man in front.

"One who desires to avert bloodshed." returned the figure.

Behind a large rock nearby, Xellos whispered, "I don't see that this will be any less irritating to that mob than I would have been."

"Trust me," Filia whispered back, "no one is quite as irritating as you can be."

"We need a name." The man at the head of the mob didn't shout this time, but his tone was even more hostile. "Are you part of the plan to create a race of dragons here?"

There was no good way to avoid it. Alicia, drew back her hood enough to reveal her face. "I am Alcia Metallium-Copt," she answered. "And there will be a dragon created, but we will not stay here. Your land will be safe."

"And just where will you be going?" demanded the leader.

"That is a personal matter." Alcia replied.

"Better than 'that is a secret', at least." Filia whispered. Xellos raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Do you expect us to simply take your word?" one of the other men spoke up, and there were growls of agreement around him.

"I have no reason to lie." Alcia held up her hand.

"Hah!" the second man looked at her with contempt. "Your very shape is a lie! You're a Mazoku half-breed monstrosity!"

And now Xellos' amethyst eyes came fully open, blazing with anger. But his reaction paled next to Filia's.

"_You did NOT just say that about my daughter!" _The blonde screamed, and lifted her hands. Instantly, magical energies swirled around her. Her clothing vanished, and a moment later her body expanded and changed shape. Xellos just had time to move out of the way as Filia, now a full-size adult golden dragon, charged around the boulder.

The crowd had apparently been instructed on at least the rudiments of fighting dragons. They brought their pitchforks up, and fanned out to try to attack their larger enemy from all sides. But Filia had just enough self-control remaining to sweep her laser breath barely above the heads of the mob. The tines of most of the pitchforks tumbled to the ground.

Moments later, the crowd's attempt to surround the raging dragon was interfered with on one side by Xellos, whose staff seemed to become a pinwheel as he knocked man after man to the ground, and on the other side by Alcia, who brought a morning star out from her cloak and laid about her with almost as great an effect. Filia lashed out with her tail, catching most of the center group at knee level and sending them tumbling backwards. Using the space thus gained, she reared on her hind legs and unfolded her wings. Two mighty flaps, and all the torches were blown out.

Both Xellos and Alcia had no trouble fighting in the darkness lit only occasionally by lightning. But it took only a few yells of pain and screams of fright for panic to spread among the effectively blind villagers. In a very short time, all of them were either unconscious or running headlong back to their homes, save one -- and he was trying.

"Lighting!" Alcia's voice called out, and dim light appeared above her open palm. The remaining villager could now see that his failure to retreat was directly due to Xellos' staff piercing the tail of his coat while being firmly planted in the ground.

"Now, now," Xellos waved his finger, "it's not very nice to leave in the middle of our pleasant chat."

"Mercy! Pity!" wailed the man.

"What peculiar-sounding words." Xellos pretended to be surprised. "I wonder what they mean?"

"Dad," Alcia spoke up, "something's weird when the child has to tell the parent not to play with his food."

"I'm not playing, Alcia-chan," corrected Xellos, "I'm _seasoning_." He turned back to his captive. "We don't want wailing Panic, now do we?"

"I don't know!" the man cried. "Will it help?"

"Not at all." Xellos informed him. "But the answers to a few harmless questions might help a great deal."

"Harmless?" repeated the man, clearly no more than half believing the Mazoku. Filia also sidled closer, her considerable size doing nothing to reassure him.

"For instance," said Xellos, "what exactly were you told about what was going on here?"

"I . . . That you are trying to create an army of mutant dragons." the man answered. "Powerful enough to devastate the whole continent. "

"Now that shows that you can't trust everything you hear." Xellos was in his classic pose, eyes closed and shaking his finger. "We're only trying to make one dragon for the time being. And she won't be a mutant -- just one of the rarer species that almost went extinct."

"Umm . . . But won't it be a very powerful dragon?" said the man.

"No more powerful than we already have." Xellos was referring to Val rather than Filia, but he saw no need to explain that. "Anyway, Lina Inverse has been wandering this continent for years, and it hasn't been devastated yet, has it?"

"Well, she has destroyed several local areas," the man pointed out nervously.

"Bad example, dad." Alcia said.

"Oh, I suppose." Xellos acknowledged. "But can you tell me who spread this rumor about mutant dragons? I'm guessing it wasn't one of your fellow villagers. He seems not to have been with you this evening."

"Now that you mention it," the man's anxiety went down a fraction, "he left the village before the council meeting. He came into the village just the day before yesterday, and said he was a wandering bard."

"By any chance, did he have blonde hair?" Xellos inquired.

"Why, yes." the man answered. Filia's dragon eyes narrowed at this.

"I see." Xellos stroked his chin in thought for a moment. "My good fellow, I'm going to let you go."

"You ... are?" the man was still fairly nervous.

"And in return, I'd be obliged if you would communicate to your village that we already have more than enough power to devastate the area -- should we feel compelled to take such a distasteful step."

"Oh."

"On the other hand, as rustically charming as the locality is, we're planning on relocating to somewhere more suitable for raising a young she-dragon. Somewhere with a spa and a decent hair styling establishment, for instance."

Alcia and Filia both nodded energetically.

"I thought Esmerilla's place was reasonably good." the man came to the defense of his village.

"Are you serious?" Alcia's voice went up nearly an octave. "The woman might as well cut hair with a hand axe!"

The villager, not being a complete imbecile, realized he was outnumbered. "Umm, well, I wouldn't know personally."

"Off you go, then." Xellos drew his staff out of the ground and the villager's coat-tail. The man hesitated just a fraction, then took off at a brisk run.

"Milgasia assured me that the Elders wouldn't interfere with us," Filia said when the villager was out of sight. "There must be a Golden Dragon acting on his own."

"That would explain why he made himself scarce before things started to happen." Alcia nodded. "Now, what about the rest of them?" She pointed to the several members of the mob still out cold.

"Leave them be for now." Xellos looked towards Filia. Or at least, her head, since in her current form she was too large to take in with one glance. "I imagine you'll want to want to change back before any more of them wake up."

"Oh. Right." Filia remembered that she had to assume human size and shape a heartbeat before she could summon clothes back around herself.

- - - - - - - -

"From all that I can see, everything is set up correctly." Xellos had opened his eyes, but for once there was no menace in his expression, just an intent study of what was before him. "Mind you, I don't think anyone has done this exact procedure before."

Val had managed to finish hooking up the various tubes and wires while his parents and sister dealt with the villagers. "It's still a useful double-check. Thanks, dad." Val said. "But now it's time for mom's part."

"Of course. Come, Alcia-chan." Xellos closed his eyes, took Alcia's hand and floated them both out of the way.

Val and Filia took large pieces of black chalk from the cabinet that had held the wires, and busied themselves on the floor next to the platform. With expert strokes, they began sketching a large mystic circle going all the way around it.

"I see you haven't forgotten your skills as a priestess, mom." Val commented.

"Some things stay with you," Filia replied. "It feels a little odd to be drawing a heptagram rather than a hexagram, though."

"We can't get the power needed for an Ancient dragon with a white magic spell." Val said.

"Please tell me," Alcia spoke up, "you're not going to do a Mad Scientist laugh."

"Well, of course I am." Val looked surprised. "Would you perform 'The Fall of Sairaag' without Rezo's monologue?"

"That is completely different, and you know it." Alcia declared.

"No, it's not." Val parried. "Both of them give insight into a key character."

"The insight it gives me is that you're a couple of wine bottles short of a full case."

"Haven't you said that for years?" Val grinned.

Filia glared. "Alcia, have you been calling your brother names?"

"Umm, well, " Alcia sweatdropped, "in an affectionate sisterly way."

"Anyway, there's no choice about the Mad Scientist laugh." Val said. "I made it part of the spell incantation."

Alcia rolled her eyes. "You would."

"Some of us can tolerate exuberant laughter better than others."

"Some of us have more taste than others." Alcia countered.

"Taste?" Val raised his eyebrows. "You can't tell a Zephilian Burgundy from a Xoanan Cabernet."

"So I'm not the wine connoisseur you are." Alcia paused for a moment. "Come to think of it, Val-kun, what are you going to do if her tastes are different from yours?"

"I remember an old story something like that." Val's expression turned serious. "A man creates an artificial woman, but when she comes to life, she finds him repellent."

"I'm certain that won't happen." Filia paused her drawing for a moment. "You're very handsome, Val-kun. No female dragon or human could find you repellent."

"That's my boy, all right." Xellos added.

"You two are not exactly unbiased judges." Alcia pointed out. "But I'll grant you're cute in your own way, big brother."

"Thanks, sis." Val said.

"However, there's more to it than good looks." Alcia continued. "Okay, _you'd_ probably be happy as long as she had a better figure than Lina Inverse."

"Almost everyone has a better figure than Lina Inverse." Val pointed out. "Give me credit for being a little more discriminating."

"What I _mean_ is," Alcia said sternly, "There are several other things just as important for we females. What if she doesn't share your likes and dislikes?"

"There's always a chance of that," Val admitted. "I'm hoping I can get the odds in my favor, though. For instance. . ." He gestured towards the small crate next to the instrument cabinet.

"You're going to feed her oranges?" Alcia said.

"What could it hurt?" Val asked.

"You're fond of them because they remind you of dad." Alcia replied. "What if she forms an attachment to him instead of to you?"

Val winced. "Then mom would probably apply her mace."

"In a heartbeat." Filia turned to Xellos. "But you wouldn't rob the cradle, would you, dear?"

"Well, now," Xellos's smile had more than a hint of mischief. "I hear that Lady Dolphin is thinking of creating a new priestess."

Filia growled. Perhaps it was fortunate that at that moment, Val finished the last line of the mystic circle. "Time for the incantation!" he announced. The three others hastily moved into position around the circle.

Val drew a deep breath, then raised his arms above his head.

"They dared to laugh at my theories,

But now we shall make all the world stare,

Let our power and will bring forth here and now,

_Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!_

ZELAS SPARK!!"

The circle began to glow. Streamers of energy came upwards, seeming to hesitate like rivulets of water exploring which path to flow. The energy probed outwards for a moment, then veered away from the four figures at the outer edges of the circle, and instead folded inwards. Rapidly the flow focused on the prone form of the new dragon. In another heartbeat, the magic was going at a tremendous rate, with a sound like a great waterfall. The scent of ozone filled the chamber.

Moments later, the magic dwindled down as swiftly as it had grown. The circle darkened again. For a few moments nothing moved or made a sound. Each of the four gazed intently, silently willing the spell to have succeeded.

And then the tip of the tail twitched, once, twice. The nostrils changed shape, slightly but unmistakably, as the first breath was drawn in.

And even Alcia joined in the general shout, "It's alive! _It's alive!!"_

Slowly, the pale dragon lifted its head. The eyes opened.

"Oh, no . . ." Val whispered, his enthusiasm vanishing instantly.

For there was no intelligence in the eyes. No trace of any emotion or will. The form on the table might as well have been a giant earthworm.

"She -- it -- doesn't have a soul." Filia put into words what everyone present realized.

"Val . . . I'm sorry." Alcia said. "I was so worried about what might go wrong if it succeeded. I wouldn't have said . . ."

"I'm not giving up yet," Val said. "We'll find out what went wrong. And in the meantime, it's still alive. It'll need food." He went over to the crate and opened it with rather more force than was necessary.

Both Xellos and Alcia swiveled to face the crate. "Val, stop!"

"So I'm a little peeved," Val said.

"That's not the problem," Xellos pointed at the crate with his staff. "Now that you've opened it, I can sense some very unusual magic coming from inside."

"I'm sensing it too." Alcia added. "But I've never encountered anything quite like it. I couldn't even tell you if it's black, shamanistic, or white."

"Didn't you tell me that Queen Martina once managed to put a curse on Lina, invoking a god she'd just made up?" Filia joined in. "Maybe this is a similar curse from someone else trying to sabotage our work."

"I bet Deep Sea Dolphin tampered with the oranges somehow." Alcia said. "She's the one to come up with weird spells."

"And she wouldn't want a powerful race of land-dwellers to return." Filia added.

"Damn." Val closed the crate. "I wonder what else can go wrong tonight?"

The words were scarcely out of his mouth when a vortex of magic appeared in the far corner of the chamber. Quickly it grew, opening a portal into inky blackness. From the dark appeared a massive wolf, with leathery wings coming from its shoulders.

"Who dares draw upon my power?" Beastmaster's voice filled the chamber.

"Grandma!" shouted Alcia, and ran over to hug the wolf. "You still know how to make an entrance."

"Why, thank you, Alcia-chan." One of Beastmaster's wings curved downwards to hug Alcia back. "Was that menacing enough? And how did you like the voice effect?"

"Your delivery was excellent!" Alcia said enthusiastically. "Can you teach me how to do that with my voice?"

"Next time you visit Wolf Pack Island. So, how did the spell work?" A note of eagerness crept into the Mazoku lord's voice. "Do we have a female Ancient Dragon?"

"Not really." Val allowed his disappointment to show in his face and voice. "The spell brought the body to life, but there's no intelligence. "

"Let me see." Zelas' appearance seemed to shimmer for a moment, and then she transformed into a woman, about the same apparent age as Filia, but with slightly darker blonde hair. She was dressed expensively, but showing a generous amount of leg through her slit skirt. She also now carried a cigarette holder. Filia's frown deepened.

Val gave a polite cough. "Grandma, it won't be healthy for the new dragon's lungs to inhale cigarette smoke."

"Of course." Zelas crushed the cigarette out against her bare pinkie finger, showing no sign of discomfort as she did so. Walking over to the platform on which the new ancient dragon lay, she ran a hand over its scales. Her demeanor now changed almost as completely as her physical form. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes like a collector appraising a damaged sculpture. "Yes, I'm afraid you're right. The cloning process usually produced a soul before, though spiritually distorted, when the body was a true copy. But since this is a female and Val has a male soul, there was no transfer."

"And after all the effort to make sure it didn't have an evil soul, like Copy Rezo." There was disgust in Val's voice.

"Oh, I wouldn't say all is lost." Zelas said. "I can split off enough of my power to create a consciousness, and infuse it into her."

"Ewww!" Alcia reacted immediately. Val and Filia also had expressions of distaste.

"Zelas-sama," Val chose his words carefully, "as striking as your human form is, having a part of one's grandmother in a mate would be . . . well . . ."

"It would creep him out." Alcia supplied.

"And it would also mean she wouldn't be a pure Ancient Dragon." Filia pointed out. "There would be even more problems with the Golds and other dragon races."

"Oh, I'm sure they'd come to accept her in time." Zelas waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "After all, they've come to accept Alcia-chan, haven't they, sweetie?"

"Actually, grandma," Alcia contradicted, "there is still some . . .name-calling . . . Every now and then."

A dark cloud appeared over Beastmaster's head. "By whom?"

"No one I can't deal with." Alcia said hastily.

"I have to agree, Joou-sama, that it would be best not to divide your power." Xellos chimed in. "Dynast-sama would be sure to comment about it. I'm sure we can come up with a less draining solution."

"He can be rather tiresome." Zelas sighed. "Very well. I'll give you some time to work on this. But I think the brain needs to start functioning before very long. If you find no answer in three weeks, we'll have to proceed with my idea."

"Zelas-sama." Filia forced herself to speak politely. "You seem very driven to make this happen. I am still not convinced of your motives for restoring the Ancient Dragons."

"You suspect that I am planning to eventually cause a war between the Ancient and Golden Dragons?" Zelas asked calmly.

"Since you ask, yes." Filia's voice was level. "A war ending in the destruction of both sides."

"Grandma wouldn't do that." Val and Alcia spoke up together.

Filia turned toward her children. "You haven't known her for as long as I have."

"That part may be true, Filia-kun, but they are right for several reasons." Zelas' manner was like a professor correcting a promising student. "First, such a thing would alarm the humans and other races, and I have no wish to repeat the War of the Monsters' Fall. Second, the Golden Dragons are an excellent source of negative emotions. Although I wish Milgasia weren't so good at keeping his temper. And lastly, whether you believe it or not, I don't like to see any species disappear."

"Why not, if they're your enemies?" Filia challenged.

"Have you ever wondered," Zelas inquired, "how I was able to make Xellos so powerful against dragons?"

"Yes, it had crossed my mind." Filia replied.

"I encourage the name 'Beastmaster' because it makes people think of bears and snakes and other dangerous animals. Always including wolves." Zelas smiled. "But it is more accurate to call me the Greater Beast. As you know, Shabranigdo created we five Mazoku Lords each with our own area of specialty. You might call those areas our domains. As an example, Hellmaster's domain was death, even including those who were not evil in life. In the same way, my domain is living creatures. Not merely frightening ones, but quiet and beautiful ones also. Even intelligent ones."

"You mean--" Filia began.

"Yes." Zelas nodded. "Even humans and dragons. Val didn't choose to draw on my power for the animation spell simply because I was willing to help him. It was also because I am the correct Mazoku lord for such a spell. It is part of my domain, and it will expand my domain."

"And that is your reason?" Filia was clearly still skeptical.

"Oh, I try not to do things for just one reason. But that is my main one." The dark vortex re-appeared behind the Greater Beast. "I'll be in touch!" She stepped back into the blackness and was gone.

"Mom!" Val and Alcia complained together. "You shouldn't be so impolite!"

"But she's a Mazoku Lord -- she's _the_ Mazoku Lord!" Filia clenched her hands in frustration. "She's the queen of the Forces of Darkness!"

"Perhaps, but what are you going to do?" Alcia countered. "She's family."

- - - - - - - -

It was two hours later. The new dragon had been given milk and some of the vegetables from the family's own light supper, thoroughly mashed to make them easier to swallow. For all that, it seemed to have the least trouble eating of anyone. All the others had picked at their food, and the bottle of champagne Xellos had bought for Val was still unopened. After the meal, the dragon had been encouraged to curl into a circle so its entire length could be covered with a blanket. It had quickly gone to sleep, and the rest of the family was preparing to do the same.

"I feel so bad for poor Val," Filia looked through the doorway to the hall. "Xellos, do you really think we can stop what Beastmaster has in mind?"

Xellos quietly but firmly shut the bedroom door. "Yes, I do. But what he needs most of all just now is a good night's sleep."

"But even if we manage to come up with something else," Filia said, "I don't think Beastmaster will accept it. You know her ultimate goal is still to return this world to chaos."

"In her own time." Xellos said, for once without any hint of teasing. "Joou-sama is an ageless being, and can take any amount of time she chooses. She will want to enjoy watching the renewed rivalry of the Golds and the Ancients. More, she will not choose to destroy this world as long as Val and Alcia are in it."

"But, that makes it all the more vital we find a soul for that creature." Filia twisted a strand of her hair anxiously. "But what can we do? We can't create a soul out of thin air!"

"It is a big world. Even bigger since the Great Barrier is gone." Xellos went over to Filia and took her hand. "There are still many things to be discovered. Filia-chan, both our children have your determination and my resourcefulness. Look at Alcia. As an actress in tragedies, she's found a way to have people _want_ her make them feel negative emotions." He waved his free hand, and a brush and comb floated off the nightstand and began brushing Filia's hair. "Perhaps we can find a ghost who wants a physical body once more."

"There aren't many ghosts since Hellmaster was destroyed." Filia pointed out. "And most of the ones left are twisted souls."

"Then perhaps there are more like Pokata, who would rather be in a different body." Xellos suggested.

"Pokata is male, and he has adapted pretty well to his new body." Filia countered.

"There is a way, and we will find it." Xellos said firmly. "After all, there are many advantages to having a dragon's body, don't you think?" He gently stroked Filia's cheek, then leaned over and brushed her lips with his.

"You . . . make an excellent point." Filia responded.

- - - - - - - -

In the dim chamber, the dragon's eyes came open. Its breath quickened, as though it were now seeking something . . . or being called by something. It began to explore the chamber more actively, sniffing more than looking.

The creaking sound came to the sleeping Val's ears. Had he been in dragon form, it might have wakened him immediately, but as it was it simply made him stir. But a minute later there came the unmistakable roar of powerful magic being released. This time there was no chance of staying asleep. Val came immediately upright, rolled out of bed, and grabbed for a robe.

Everyone in the family was sensitive to magic, so the doors to the bedrooms opened almost simultaneously, and there was a rush towards the experiment chamber. Xellos and Alcia were fully dressed, since their clothes were a part of their human forms. Filia was still wrapping a nightgown around herself as Xellos threw open the chamber door.

The Ancient Dragon's head swiveled towards the noise. Immediately the family could see that the lower part of its face was stained with juice, and a piece of rind still dangled from its mouth.

"The cursed oranges!" Alcia cried. "It's eaten them!"

The dragon's eyes opened once more. And now there was intelligence behind them. Each of the spectators could see the spark of will, of curiosity, and even a sense of humor in the orbs that now looked purposefully back at them. Then there was a glitter of magic energies, and the dragon's form blurred and flowed into something different. Into the shape of a human female. In fact, one with a stunning figure.

Val, being young and male, was accordingly stunned. Alcia and Filia also stayed rooted to the spot, staring in amazement. Even Xellos opened his eyes in surprise. The dragon-turned-woman surveyed their expressions for a moment, then threw back her head and laughed.

"OH HO HO HO HO!!"

T he

E n d

Author's afterword: I had to do _something_ about the end of Slayers Evolution-R Episode 5.


End file.
